The final communiqué released Tuesday by the two-day G8 summit in Northern Ireland bowed to President Vladimir Putin’s demand to drop any reference to ending Bashar Assad’s rule. The seven-part Syrian section called for a diplomatic effort to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table; the convening of Geneva-2 for a political solution; to leave no regime vacuum in Damascus; to cleanse Syria of chemical weapons and terrorist elements; to form a new government representing all parts of Syrian society; and to set up a $1.5 million refugee aid fund.
DEBKAfile: Bashar Assad’s fate has been the sticking point in one discussion after another in the course of the more than two years of warfare which continues unabated.